Two Romanians want to lure British entrepreneurs unhappy with Brexit to Transylvania

Adrian
Docea and Elena Hurjui of Heraldist & Wondermarks, the agency
that set up Transylvania Beyond.Heraldist & Wondermarks

Two Romanians have launched a DIY immigration campaign to tempt
British entrepreneurs who are unhappy with the EU referendum
result to relocate to Transylvania.

"Transylvania Beyond" is pushing promoted ads on Facebook saying:
"If you don't fancy the idea of being stuck on an island with
Boris & Nigel for the rest of your life, we might have a
plan."

The post then links to a website encouraging people to move to
Transylvania, the Romanian region famous for its association with
Dracula. The website, specifically tailored to British citizens,
then lists reasons to move such as great scenery, healthcare,
good airport connections, fast internet speeds, and a large
number of tech specialists.

The website ends with this message: "If you're interested to
build a company in Transylvania, let us know and we can introduce
you to the startup & tech community in Cluj, Transylvania."

The Transylvania Beyond website is the handiwork of the
Transylvania Tourist Board, but that organisation turns out
to be a private creative agency, not a government body.

Adrian Docea, one of the two Romanian entrepreneurs behind the
project, told Business Insider over email: "We realised
Transylvania exists for a thousand years and never had a
touristic brand. Or a campaign. Or any kind of marketing
strategy.A
screenshot of the Facebook ad for Transylvania
Beyond.Screenshot/Facebook

"We thought it might be the right time, as the Ministry of
Tourism didn’t do anything about it for the last quarter of a
century. So we did it ourselves. Transylvania is most probably
the most famous region in the whole eastern half of the
continent. It deserves to be known for more than just vampire
stories."

Docea, 35, set up the campaign with his cofounder Elena
Hurjui, also 35, through their creative agency Heraldist &
Wondermarks, which he describes as
"half-agency-half-startup-factory."

Docea says Transylvania Beyond began its Brexit-specific Facebook
advertising last week to target "British entrepreneurs who are
not happy about the whole Brexit story and consider moving
abroad.

He says: "We want them in Transylvania. We’ve got a lot of great
things waiting for them here — from excellent tech talents that
cost 3 times less than in the UK, low taxes, great broadband
connections, high quality of life; all in all, an excellent place
to create a tech startup.

"What we don’t have here is a solid entrepreneurial culture. If
we can get a few hundred British entrepreneurs to move here and
start a business here, we might solve the problem and create the
spark that this region needs, in order to become a major tech hub
in Europe."

The
Transylvania Beyond website.Screenshot

Docea says the campaign has already been "more successful than we
could have expected", adding: "Every 9 minutes there’s a new
email coming from a British entrepreneur impressed by the story
and interested in relocating to Transylvania.

"If we keep going like this, we expect to reach a thousand
British entrepreneurs interested in Transylvania in less than a
month. If 5% of them will actually start a business here this
year, it’s already an amazing achievement for our region."

As well as the Transylvania Beyond campaign,
the Guardian reports that Bucharest newspaper Gandul has
launched a "Romanians for Remainians" campaign calling for Brits
to "leave the Brexiters, the quarrelling and the weather behind"
and "start brand new life."